The One That Got Away (A Finally Ever After Story) Read online

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  The One That Got Away

  (A Finally Ever After Story)

  Jess Dee

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  An imprint of

  Musa Publishing

  Copyright Information

  Finally Ever After: The One That Got Away, Copyright © Jess Dee, 2012

  All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher.

  ...

  This e-Book is a work of fiction. While references may be made to actual places or events, the names, characters, incidents, and locations within are from the author’s imagination and are not a resemblance to actual living or dead persons, businesses, or events. Any similarity is coincidental.

  ...

  Musa Publishing

  633 Edgewood Ave

  Lancaster, OH 43130

  www.musapublishing.com

  ...

  Published by Musa Publishing, October 2012

  ...

  This e-Book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. No part of this ebook can be reproduced or sold by any person or business without the express permission of the publisher.

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  ISBN: 978-1-61937-389-1

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  Editor: Jeanne De Vita

  Cover Design: Kelly Shorten

  Interior Book Design: Coreen Montagna

  Content Warning

  This book contains adult language and scenes. This story is meant only for adults as defined by the laws of the country where you made your purchase. Store your books carefully where they cannot be accessed by younger readers.

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to anyone who’s ever wondered

  what could have been...if he hadn’t gotten away.

  Prologue

  Sydney, Australia—Early July

  BREATHLESS AND TREMBLING, Lily Kember clutched fistfuls of sheet in her hands, arched her back and bent her knee to her chest, opening herself completely to Kai’s lustful mouth.

  Shivers ran up her spine. God, it wasn’t supposed to be like this…wasn’t supposed to have turned into anything more than friendship. Friendship was even pushing it, since she’d known Kai for all of three days. She hadn’t meant for anything to happen, hadn’t thought she’d meet anyone she desired so quickly after the break-up.

  But there was Kai Jettison, with his head buried between her legs, his tongue creating sinful urges in her belly, and his mouth showering her with illicit delights. She could barely even remember Louis what’s-his-face’s name.

  A low growl of appreciation echoed from Kai’s throat.

  The sound rippled over her belly, making her nipples tighten and her skin break out in goose flesh. How was it possible she could still be this aroused after everything they’d already done together during the night? Sensation coiled deep within, liquid heat pooled between her thighs, and she knew she was close. Her orgasm was mere breaths away.

  “N-Never dreamed this could happen so fast,” she gasped. “Never knew I could fall so hard.”

  Kai released her clit, freeing her from the soft rasp of his tongue, and Lily groaned her protest.

  “Never knew anyone could taste as sweet. I could feast on you for hours, baby.” As if to prove his point, he licked her intimately, his tongue swiping between her lips, letting the liquid heat spill from her pussy into his mouth.

  Lily shuddered. “How d-did this…happen?” How had they gotten from a polite introduction through a mutual friend to hardcore lovemaking? And make no mistake—this was lovemaking. The emotions bursting through her were way too powerful to be anything less.

  Again he drew his mouth away, although this time he replaced his tongue with his finger, continuing the erotic assault. “Well, you were asleep and looking so damn good, I crept down under the doona and ran my tongue from your stomach to your knee.”

  Lily chuckled at his deliberate misunderstanding of her question.

  “I woulda stopped there…” He traced his fingertip from her slit to her clit then back again, before plunging that finger deep inside her, eliciting a yelp of delight from Lily. “But you ran your fingers through my hair and trapped my head at your delicious pussy and wouldn’t let me go. I didn’t really have a choice, you see.”

  He didn’t wait for her response. He punctuated his explanation with a sweet kiss to her clit, and Lily’s laughter died in her throat as lust slammed through her once again. His description was only half correct. Indeed Lily had thread her fingers through his hair and caught his mouth to her pussy—but that was only after she’d awoken to the electrifying sensation of his warm, moist tongue caressing her in most intimate of places in the most intimate of ways.

  “K-Kai…”

  “Mm?”

  “I’m going to come.”

  “Mmm.” His approval vibrated through her like a soft purr.

  She twisted her hips, unable to keep them still, and in response he plunged a second finger inside her, flattened his tongue against her swollen nub, and licked her wickedly.

  The onslaught was too much, too overwhelming. The tempestuous storm that had risen and built within broke, and Lily came. Spasms racked her body and her muscles went rigid for just a second before relaxing into the rapturous deluge of pleasure.

  It seemed like eons passed before she floated back to earth. Eons before she registered her surroundings again, registered the sated, replete thrumming in her body. Eons before a satisfied smile curved her lips and she happily accepted Kai’s weight as he settled above her, his muscled chest resting against her breasts, his hard cock nestled on her thigh, and his hot mouth seeking hers.

  His kiss was as wicked as his lovemaking had been. He tasted of him and of her and of carnal sex. She couldn’t get enough.

  “Christ, Lil.” Her name emerged as a soft groan. “What have you done to me?”

  “Exactly what you’ve done to me, I hope.”

  He shook his head. “You…move me,” he breathed. “Shake my world in ways I never knew possible. Never expected.” And then he spoke no more as he took her lips in another stunning kiss.

  His cock strained and thumped against her thigh, and she wound her legs around his waist, wanting him inside as much as he seemed to want to get inside her. She rocked against him, inviting him in.

  He released her mouth with a growl.

  “Make love to me, Kai. Shake my world.”

  The brown of his eyes was almost invisible around his huge pupils as he stared down at her, his expression haunted. “Lily…”

  He sounded tortured.

  “Kai?”

  “I…” His body shuddered violently. “Lily…Fuck!”

  Instant apprehension hit her in the chest. “W-What’s wrong?”

  “I—Shit, I don’t wanna say this.” His face contorted in self-disgust. “But there’s something you need to know.”

  Chapter One

  Sydney, Australia—December

  “SO WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?” Nina demanded.

  “What do you think happened next?” Lily kept her eyes firmly focused on the water far below, ignoring the house behind her. Her emotions were so tumultuous, she kind of expected the ocean to mirror them by crashing into the rocks and retreating with wild determination. But the gentle lapping of water meeting cliff face reflecte
d only the light breeze and calm night air.

  Lily wished the darkness hadn’t cloaked the ocean’s tranquility. Perhaps if she could see it, the water would calm her. Even so, staring into the shadows was preferable to looking behind her, at the room jam-packed with bodies writhing to the beat. “He told me there was someone else. Another woman.”

  Nina swore viciously. “Bastard.”

  Lily shifted on her seat—a large, flat rock overlooking the Pacific. It was her favorite spot in Grant’s garden. The place she insisted on sitting whenever she visited him. Grant’s house sat atop a cliff in Dover Heights. The only thing that currently separated Lily from the water below was a fifty meter drop down the rocky face of the cliff.

  Lily nodded at Nina, but couldn’t fully put her heart into her agreement. No matter how many times she’d tried to convince herself that Kai was indeed a bastard, she’d never truly felt it in her heart.

  “He had a girlfriend?”

  “Not a girlfriend exactly. An on-again-off-again type thingy with a woman who lived in Melbourne. The week before he met me, they’d agreed he would go live there, to give their relationship a real chance.”

  It didn’t matter that Lily refused to turn around and look at the house. Kai’s unexpected presence at the party loomed behind her like a massive mountain. He may be inside, oblivious to the fact that she attended the same function, but every breath she took reminded her he was there. Before tonight, she hadn’t seen him since she’d stoically wrapped herself in a towel and asked him to leave her flat.

  Nina’s voice lit up with fury. “I’d have kneed the cheating son of a bitch in the balls.”

  Lily sighed. “I wanted to. Believe me. But…”

  “But?”

  “But a part of me kind of understood.”

  “Understood what? That he had a girlfriend, but he still found time to fuck someone else?”

  Not just fuck. Whatever had happened between herself and Kai, it hadn’t been anything quite so simple as a fuck. “I kind of understood how torn he was. What happened between us was real, and it happened fast. Neither of us saw it coming, and neither of us expected it to go so far. But he’d already made a commitment to another woman. So…” She sighed. “We never stood a chance.” The pain ripped through her afresh, bringing tears to her eyes.

  Kai had gone to Lily’s flat to explain his situation. To explain that whatever had flared between them could go no further, but he hadn’t had a chance. The minute she’d opened the door and found him standing before her, sparks had ignited. He’d tried, she’d give him that—faltered for a good few seconds, even seemed to hold back, until she’d breathed his name.

  That whisper had annihilated his best intentions. He’d hauled her against his chest and kissed her until stars sparkled behind her eyelids and the world tilted slightly to the left.

  Six hours later he’d finally found the gumption to tell her the truth. By which point it was already too late. Lily had fallen for him, hopelessly and irrevocably.

  “You never spoke about Kai,” Nina said quietly.

  Her answering smile was cheerless. “Would you believe me if I said it hurt too much?”

  “It did?”

  “Maybe it was one heartache too many. First Louis, then a few weeks later, Kai. But Jeez, Nin, it hurt so much. I fell so hard for him. He made me forget Louis, forget everything. I was happy with him. It was only three days, and we only slept together that last night, but we…I don’t know. We clicked. We got each other. He understood me in a way Louis never had. And then he left. Even though it was at my request, I kind of always think about him as the one that got away.”

  Nina looked over her shoulder, eyeing the room speculatively. “Would you like to leave? We could go somewhere else. Ditch the party and find a coffee?”

  “Grant would never forgive us.” Lily snorted, already hearing their friend giving them both a piece of his mind. Grant’s end of year bashes were famous. A party planner by profession, he went the distance with his own events. Guests spoke about them for months afterward.

  “Does Grant know?”

  “About Kai?” Lily shook her head. “He introduced us, but I never told him what happened, and he never suspected a thing.”

  “Think that’s her he’s dancing with?” Nina still gazed at the writhing bodies.

  Lily had no doubt who the her was. Kai’s woman from Melbourne. She shrugged. “No idea. I assume so.” She sniffed. “Is it terrible to confess I hate her, even if I’ve never said a word to her?”

  “Puh-lease,” Nina huffed. “I hate her too, and I’ve never met Kai.”

  Grant chose that exact moment to interrupt. In true Grant style—campy, flamboyant and over-the-top, in a way only Grant could carry off—he let them have it. “You girls are breaking my heart. Seriously, ripping it to shreds. How can I enjoy my own party if you’re not inside dancing with me? I need you and you, inside, stat. No excuses. Not one. Come on. Let’s go.” He held two hands out, one to each of them.

  Nina and Lily exchanged amused glances.

  “Do not move an inch,” Nina said quietly. “You sit here and take all the time you need. I’ll distract Grant while you catch your breath and find your composure.” She squeezed her hand and was gone, linking her arm through Grant’s and leading him inside, away from Lily, who was still shell-shocked.

  Lily struggled to wrap her mind around the fact that Kai was here. Why wasn’t he in Melbourne? And never mind being back in Sydney, why did he have to be at Grant’s party? With a woman she assumed was his girlfriend.

  Lily’s heart clenched while nausea rolled through her belly.

  Thank God Kai hadn’t noticed her tonight. Even now, months later, the shock of seeing him again had knocked her clear off balance. Her hands still trembled so hard she had to clasp them together in her lap, and her pulse beat erratically, loud as a drum in her ears.

  Maybe if she stayed outside for another hour or so she’d find her poise again.

  Nah, probably not. Especially not when every memory of every second together with Kai now played like a vivid movie through her head.

  “I thought I’d never get you alone.” The deep voice shattered her solidarity.

  Lily froze.

  God, she didn’t want to turn around. Didn’t want to face the person standing behind her. But turn she did, eventually—after taking three or four deep, silent breaths—and raised an eyebrow in studied surprise. “Kai?”

  Hah. She sounded brilliant. As though she’d had no idea he was here, as though she hadn’t taken one look at him and bolted from the room like a terrified, confused teenager. She could so do this. She could pretend he hadn’t changed her world in three days and destroyed it in three minutes.

  He nodded. “You sound surprised.”

  “I am.” She shrugged and then lied, “I didn’t know you were here.” No, she wouldn’t stand up. Wouldn’t give him the respect. She angled her head so her neck didn’t cramp while she stared up at him.

  “Really?” Without an invitation, he took a seat beside her, instantly making the rock fifty times smaller than it had been five seconds before. “The way you looked at me earlier, with eyes wider than a fifty cent coin, I kinda figured you did.”

  Shit. He had seen her after all.

  Lily forced herself not to cringe visibly. “I didn’t know you were in Sydney,” she amended, doing her best to save face. “Last time I saw you, you were on your way to Melbourne.”

  “Last time you saw me I was a lot of things,” he muttered.

  Oh, she was so not going there. So not picking up a conversation that she wished to God she’d never had to be a part of in the first place.

  Awareness settled in her stomach like a tiny butterfly, flitting around, lost and alarmed. Kai sat beside her. Close, but not touching. Close enough that the heat from his body radiated from him, warming her altogether too much for a summer evening.

  “You look good, Lily,” he said softly.

  So d
id he. Good enough to eat. But then Lily wasn’t up for another severe bout of food poisoning. One round with Kai had been enough. Or so she told herself. Her heart argued that a lifetime with Kai wouldn’t be adequate.

  “Thank you.” That was all she said. She refused to make this easy for him. No way was she going to make an effort, talk or ask him questions. She wouldn’t trap herself in a conversation, because she knew, just knew, that if she did, she’d never want to stop.

  Kai didn’t take his gaze off her, even after Lily turned away from him to face the black waves lapping against the bottom of the cliff below them. She listened to the tranquil swish of water hitting rock and drawing back, praying for some of its calm.

  “How are you?” he asked. “How have you been?”

  “Fine.” The single word was all she offered, but then added as an afterthought, “thank you.”

  “You’re not going to ask me the same thing?”

  If she had to. “How are you, Kai?” Honestly, she didn’t want to know. She didn’t want to engage with him. She didn’t want it to hurt every time she breathed, inhaling his unique, spicy scent.

  “I’m okay, now.”

  Now? “You’ve been sick?” Lily deserved extra points for politeness.

  “No. I’ve been an idiot.”

  Whatever that meant.

  Lily wouldn’t ask. Even though a little part of her wanted to know. Okay, so a big part of her wanted to know. But the last time a big part of her had wanted to know more about him, he’d left her in a wash of tears and a wealth of hurt.

  His words drifted off in the gentle breeze, leaving them sitting in an awkward silence.

  “You’re not giving an inch here, Lil, are you?”

  “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

  “Five months ago we couldn’t find enough time to talk about all the things we wanted to share with each other. Now a simple hello is uncomfortable.”

  She blinked, holding her lids together for a long time before opening her eyes again. “Maybe we discussed it all five months ago. There’s nothing left to say.”